Worth
by WriterFreak001
Summary: Even when she tries to forget him, she can't. He won't let her.
1. Chapter 1

**WriterFreak001:**

I'm taking a break from my WIPs for a few more days because this idea has been itching me like crazy, and I don't think it's going to go away until I've finished writing it. So please bear with me a little while longer.

This fic will be written in at most 5 parts, and it will all be in Paige's POV.

* * *

 **Title** | Worth

 **Description** | Even when she tries to forget him, she can't. He won't let her.

 **Rating** | This fanfiction will be rated M.

 **Disclaimer** | While CBS owns _**Scorpion**_ , I am the owner of this masterpiece.

* * *

 **Worth**

 **Written by WriterFreak001**

 **Part 1**

 **~ S** **CORPION ~**

* * *

 _"I tried to hate you, to forgive you, all just to forget you, but I'm only capable of loving you. You're tattooed onto my skin, and the more I try to erase you, the deeper you sink in."_ ― Llarjme, _Missing Variables_

* * *

She didn't know what she was expecting when she slipped into the car with Tim, but she wasn't going to go back. She wouldn't go back. She had given him every chance to stop her, to beg her to stay, to do _anything_ to keep her from leaving Los Angeles, but after he looked into her eyes… after he blatantly encouraged her to leave even though she had wanted him to want her to stay…, she wasn't even sure if she wanted to see him again.

Walter O'Brien made it perfectly clear he wanted nothing beyond friendship with her.

And if that was what he wanted, that was what he was going to get.

She was done.

And she was that mad, that angry, that upset with him. Because underneath the fake smiles and the quiet responses, she was heartbroken. She wasn't as special to him like she thought she was. She wasn't someone he wanted to be with, and it would seem that any feelings he had had for her a year ago were gone now.

Hell, she wasn't even sure if they were even there to begin with, but she didn't care anymore. That chapter of her life was over, and from now on, she was going to ignore any feelings she had for Walter O'Brien and focus on the man sitting next to her, taking her to Tahoe.

She owed Tim that much, at least.

Her phone suddenly buzzed, and she looked down at the screen cradled within the palms of her hands. Walter O'Brien. Paige frowned and immediately dropped her phone into her purse, not wanting to deal with that man right now.

Anything he had to say to her could wait until she after returned from her trip.

"You're awfully quiet," Tim muttered as he drove off the road and glided his car next to a gas pump. "Way too quiet, if I'm being honest." He turned to look at her and gave her a small smile before reaching for her hand. She absentmindedly moved it, and he flexed his fingers awkwardly before bringing them back to his side. "Is everything all right?"

Paige nodded slowly, ignoring the churning in her stomach. "Yes. Everything's fine. I'm just… beat from the case, you know?"

Tim chuckled softly and popped open the door as he slipped one leg outside of the car. "Today _was_ crazy, wasn't it?"

"A bit," she shrugged as a flickering neon sign caught her attention. Walter's Brewery. She immediately glanced down at her fidgeting fingers and closed her eyes before continuing. "I just hope we made the right decision leaving for Tahoe…. It feels… it feels wrong."

Tim climbed out of the car and leaned against its side as he raised an eyebrow at Paige. "Do you want to go back?"

Paige thought for a moment. Going back would mean seeing Walter again, and she didn't think she was ready to confront him yet. Perhaps giving Toby and Happy some space would be best after all. "No," she slowly shook her head. "Happy clearly wanted to be by herself, and Walter's with Toby. Cabe's in the area too so I think we should be okay going to Tahoe." Paige flashed a quick smile, ignoring the sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach. "If they need us for anything, they wouldn't hesitate to call. I'm sure of it."

"Paige," Tim pressed his knees against the car step and gave the Scorpion liaison an understanding smile. "We _can_ go back. I don't mind."

"No!" Paige exclaimed almost way too loudly and too quickly. Tim's eyebrows shot straight up, and Paige pinned her bottom lip between her teeth. Going back now would mean absolute defeat. She needed to see where her budding relationship with Tim was going without Walter's interference, and Tahoe would be the perfect experiment. Paige wasn't going to wait around for Walter to decide whether or not he wanted her. She needed to move on, and the sooner she forgets her feelings, the better. "I mean," she inhaled a deep breath and forced a smile. "We've come so far… I'm sure Happy and Toby don't need us to be their pity committee tonight, and I'm sure the tickets W—" Let's try that again. "I'm sure the tickets we got were very expensive, and if we didn't end up going to Tahoe, the tickets would be wasted."

"Are you sure?"

Paige nodded, reaching over to grab his hand and squeeze it. "Yes," she gave him a small grin, "I'm sure."

A colorful smile stretched across Tim's lips as he turned his hand and latched his fingers onto hers. She inwardly frowned as she stared at their conjoined hands. The way he held her hand… the way it felt… It… It didn't feel right. His palm was calloused in all of the wrong areas. His touch was rough and clammy, and he was squeezing her fingers too tightly, even though she knew he wasn't doing it on purpose. The sensation was just… different… than what she was used to.

And she began to wonder if she had made a mistake after all….

Eventually Tim released her hand and pushed himself outside of the vehicle to finish his almost forgotten task. She heard the fuel door cover pop open and the cap twist off before the pump was pushed inside, and as Tim stayed beside the pump, she turned herself back around and leaned towards the passenger side window, her eyes mindlessly wandering over to the bright blue flickering neon sign off in the distance.

She suddenly felt calm again.

 **~ SCORPION ~**

Paige stirred awake as the breaks squeaked loudly. One reason of several others detailing why she wished she'd had Tim take her Malibu instead of his classic Cadillac. The car was great for short distances and was impressively well taken care of, but after riding inside of it for a number of hours, she really didn't think it was the best vehicle for travel. But Tim insisted his "baby" was a natural so who was she to argue?

"How long was I sleeping?" She stretched her arms in a catlike manner and yawned quietly as Tim parked his car. She looked at the time. 2:14 AM. "Are we here already?"

"Just pulled up," Tim whispered with a slight nod. "You go in check in. I'll grab the bags."

Too tired to argue, Paige unbuckled her seatbelt, climbed out of the Caddy and arched her back until it popped before sauntering towards the hotel. She shivered as the chilly breeze kissed her arms and her face and then shoved her hands into her pockets as she continued towards the entrance, making a mental note to unpack her sweater in the morning in preparation for the nippy lake weather.

 _Portland is cold… and wet_.

Paige's chest ached at the memory of Walter giving her a brief assessment of Portland, Maine after Drew had asked her and Ralph to move up there with him. His words were harsh and cold, icy like the wind blowing around her, but she couldn't help but want to hear them again…. He tried fighting for her to stay last year when she had almost agreed to leave with Ralph's father, but this time… this time he didn't. If he had fought for her, if he had asked her to stay, grabbed her arm and begged her not to leave, she wouldn't have left.

She would have turned around in a heartbeat if he had had the courage to stop her.

But it was too late.

He didn't fight for her so why should she fight for him?

Paige inhaled a deep, shaky breath and exhaled slowly to calm her throbbing heart. She blinked back her tears and sniffed quietly as she reached for the door handle. She tugged with little effort and slipped through the double doors before making her way to the reception's desk.

A woman with deep red hair and bright green eyes looked up from her computer and gave Paige a small smile. "Last name?"

"O'Brien," Paige replied softly as Tim dragged and carried their luggage through the double doors. "The reservations should be under Walter O'Brien."

The receptionist nodded and made a few clicks before rising to her feet. She tucked a few card keys inside a tiny envelope and handed it to Paige. "Your suite is ready for you and your husband, Mrs. O'Brien. No need to worry about payment; it's already been paid in full. Just take the elevator to the twelfth floor, and the entrance will be directly in front. Room 1201. If you need assistance with your luggage, one of our porters will be more than happy to help you."

"That won't be necessary," Paige pinned her bottom lip between her teeth and inwardly flushed from the thought of being mistaken as Mrs. O'Brien. Surely she should have seen it coming, but hearing the name alone – even if it _was_ an honest mistake – did crazy things inside of her.

Mrs. O'Brien.

Mrs. Paige Dineen O'Brien.

Her heart suddenly started to throb again, and she almost laughed at herself.

She was such an idiot.

 **~ SCORPION ~**

"Not that I'm complaining, but…," Tim plopped his luggage bag on top of a chair and zipped it open before looking at her, "why didn't you correct the receptionist when she accidentally called you Mrs. O'Brien?"

"I figured keeping up the pretense would be less confusing. If they weren't aware that we were using the reservation instead of Walter," she purposely left out Linda, "then it would have caused unnecessary problems. Pretending I was Mrs. O'Brien was efficient."

"If you say so," Tim yawned as he tore the sheets off of one bed. "I'll be back," he popped his neck before grabbing his sleepwear, "I'm going to change for bed."

"Okay," Paige nodded as she fished for her silky pajamas. They weren't sexy, in her opinion, but at least they were comfortable, and if she and Tim were going to take their "relationship" to the next level, then they probably won't be on long anyway. "I'll change when you're done."

"Sounds like a plan," Tim chuckled as he gave her a thumb's up before disappearing into the bathroom. And when he came out, she silently slipped inside. She slowly washed her face and brushed her teeth, and then she slithered out of her day clothes before sliding into her soft camisole and slick lavender pants. After flipping her hair out from underneath her straps, she turned on the water again and splashed her hot cheeks, unsure if she was prepared for what _could_ be outside the bathroom door.

There was only one way to find out.

As she pulled on the door handle, Paige half expected to see Tim impatiently waiting for her, but he was decently dressed, resting against the mountain of pillows behind him and reading a sports magazine. Paige also noticed that he had left room for her as well.

When he saw her ease her way into the room, he immediately dropped the magazine and climbed out of the bed, approaching her swiftly. "Wow," he gave her a onceover, "even in simple PJs, you look stunning."

"Thanks," she blushed, curling a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I think."

She folded her arms across her chest when she noticed how he was staring at her, suddenly feeling more exposed than ever. His eyes were glossed over with desire, making her feel slightly more uncomfortable. She didn't like the way he was looking at her. His eyes were darker and fiercer than the gentle and loving eyes she was used to.

She inhaled a deep breath.

She shouldn't be thinking of Walter right now. Walter wasn't here, he wasn't the one who wanted to come to Tahoe with her, and she certainly shouldn't be comparing him to Tim. That wasn't fair. It wasn't right. She should be thinking only about Tim tonight and tomorrow night and the night after that, and if their vacation went well, he should be on her mind every day and night afterwards, but if that was the case, then why couldn't she stop thinking about Walter? Why now? Why here?

Paige suddenly felt Tim's large, calloused hands covering her shoulders, and she immediately searched his eyes, trying to figure out what was going on inside that tactically-trained brain of his. Out of nowhere, he dropped his face down and surprised her with a hard kiss, and she froze. Those lips were foreign and chapped and uncaring. They were rough and desperate and not the lips she _wanted_ to be kissing, and when his arms snaked around her, pulling her closer, red flags shot up everywhere.

This was not something she wanted to do with a man she didn't love.

Without warning, she forcibly pushed Tim away.

"I'm sorry," she bit her lip and wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly feeling sick to her stomach. "I can't do this right now."

And without a word, she bolted out of the suite, completely and absolutely embarrassed with herself.

 **~ SCORPION ~**

Paige never exited a building so fast. She knew Tim had done nothing wrong, and she shouldn't have raced out of the suite so impulsively, but she didn't really know where else to go. She just couldn't face him, and she couldn't imagine what was currently going through his mind right now. He must be furious with her for leading him on. He must be packing up his bags this instant, preparing to drive the hell out of Tahoe at first light. She wouldn't blame him. He must be confused and embarrassed as well because he was the one who put himself out there… who assumed she was ready for the next phase.

She wanted to like him. She wanted herself to want to enjoy kissing him and enjoy letting him have his wicked way with her, but Tim wasn't Walter. Tim would _never_ be Walter, no matter how sweet he was towards her. He just wasn't that idiot genius buried deep within her heart.

Paige groaned loudly into her hands as she leaned against the cold, white wall of the hotel, needing some time to herself. She could have wandered about the halls and pretended to be on the phone so people wouldn't approach her and ask her if she was lost, but she was too embarrassed to talk to other people, and she didn't want the extra attention.

She half expected Tim to follow her, chase her down and demand for an explanation, but he never did, and she was grateful for it. She didn't even know if she had one, really. She just… It was just… it was just too much too soon.

"I'm such an idiot," she grumbled into her hands, desperately wanting to crawl underneath the biggest rock and hide from the world forever. She was _that_ embarrassed.

"Paige…."

The Scorpion immediately liaison froze. What was _he_ doing here? Slowly, she pulled her hands away from her face and found the very man she had been trying to forget standing in front of her, looking at her like he had just had his breath taken away. His feet were a foot apart, his chest was heaving up and down, and his fingers were flexing as he stared deeply into her eyes.

"W-Walter," she found herself uttering his name, and he took one step closer to her. Her chest felt heavy with pain. Gravely, she asked, "Why are you here?"

"I came here to tell you something," was his first reply as he daringly approached her. Standing only a few inches from her, he looked around and then frowned. "Where's Tim?"

"Why? Came here to drag us away for a case?" Her response was cold and bitter, but she had no right to be kind to him after he had so easily pushed her away towards another man.

"What?" Walter's eyes grew wide before his expression fell as he shook his head. "No."

"Then why do you care?"

"Because I don't want any interruptions," Walter answered swiftly, suddenly grabbing her hands with his and squeezing them gently. She gasped a little, and he leaned closer to her until she could feel his warm breath brushing over her face and neck. Good god, did she miss this.

"I-Interruptions?" She had half a mind to think right now.

Without warning, he released her hands and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into an intimate embrace. She grew tense, weary of his actions, wondering what had changed between Los Angeles and Tahoe. She heard him inhale a deep breath as he nuzzled his nose against the crook of her neck, and she exhaled through her nose, her insides liquefying from his intimate touch. He pressed a kiss to her neck and then he cupped her cheeks before pressing his forehead to hers. She closed her eyes as her fingers drifted up to his dark curls. She needed proof he was there, that she wasn't going insane and simply imagining him.

If this was a dream, she didn't want to wake up.

She could feel him move closer to her, pressing his body against hers and trapping her against the side of the hotel building, and everything felt so natural. Her body burned badly for him, and she didn't want anything to ruin this building moment between them.

"I love you."

Paige's eyes shot open and immediately found Walter's. And when she didn't say anything, he continued.

"I'm such a moron for taking this long to realize my feelings and I know the timing probably sucks, but I need you to know how I feel about you because sending you away with Tim was a mistake. I should be the one here, not him." He dropped his hands to her waist and brought his lips to her ear. "Come back with me."

Paige's heart caught in her throat, and he pulled back just enough to touch his nose to hers as their breaths intermingled within the small space between them.

"Please," he pleaded, his left palm snaking to the small of her back. "Please don't make me go back alone."

"Walter…," Paige could barely speak above a whisper. This was… unexpected. So unexpected. Never did she think she would hear those words come from Walter O'Brien's mouth, and the fact that he had said it so… easily… so naturally… overwhelmed her. She gazed into his eyes, and she could tell he wasn't lying.

This man loved her.

Walter O'Brien. The man she loved will all of her heart was _actually_ in love with her.

Her heart could burst.

"I really do love you," Walter restated as though he could read her thoughts.

She inhaled a breath and licked her lips slowly, and before she knew what was happening, Walter closed the distance between them with a deep kiss, and Paige couldn't find a reason to stop him. And she couldn't stop herself from kissing him back as her fingers clumsily clutched and pulled at his dark curls.

He fluttered his tongue over hers, and she moaned deep into his mouth as she felt his hips push harder against her. She rested his palms over her breasts, and he gave them a gentle squeeze as his thumbs flicked her apparent nipples poking through her camisole. She squeaked as bursts of electricity shot down to her core so he did it again… and again… and again, driving the woman crazy.

And then it struck her.

This man was the same man who had broken her heart not even a day ago. He didn't fight for her when he had the chance, so why should she even give him a chance now? Why should she give him the time of day and let him kiss her and hold her and touch her, when, not even twenty-f0ur hours ago, he didn't want anything romantic to do with her? This wasn't right. She shouldn't be letting him off the hook so easily, and even though everything he was doing with her and to her felt so goddamn good… even though she was insane for not wanting to continue…, he should have to fight harder to earn his way back into her heart.

Paige stopped kissing him, and he backed away immediately. "Is… Is everything okay?"

She shook her head. "No."

"What is it? What's wrong? Was I too forceful?"

Paige shook her head and gazed into his eyes. "I can't do this right now."

"Do what?"

"This!" she waved her hands around, gesturing towards their intimate embrace. She wiggled her way away from him and pushed back her bangs as she straightened her camisole. "I'm sorry, Walter. I can't… I just can't be with you right now."

"I don't understand," Walter frowned and crossed his arms, taking a step away from her. "I thought… Did I assume incorrectly?"

Paige blinked back her tears and shook her head. "No." She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered slightly, suddenly remembering how cold it was outside. "I do love you, Walter. I really do," her voice cracked and her heart started to break all over again, "but… with everything that's happened, even though I believe you, I just…," her nose burned, and her eyes started to swell with tears, "I can't trust you right now."

Walter's bottom lip quivered before he threw his hand towards the hotel angrily. "But you can trust _him?"_

"Don't bring Tim into this," she snapped harshly.

"Tim is already in the middle of this," Walter was quick to respond. "He has been in the middle for weeks now, enchanting you with that voodoo charm of his, and even though you knew I had feelings for you, you couldn't say no to him, could you?!"

Paige smacked Walter hard on the cheek.

"How _dare_ you!" Paige wanted to slap him again but refrained herself as she continued. "If I recall, you also knew I had feelings for you, and I thought we were finally moving somewhere, but then you go off and date other women! So unless you want me to remind you about Linda – the woman you _were_ going to take to this romantic three-day-weekend, you better think twice before you accuse me of hitting things off with Tim!"

Paige started to march back towards the entrance of the hotel, but stopped, trying so hard not to cry in front of Walter. She covered her mouth with her hand and squeezed her eyes shut as her tears spilled, but she dared not make a sound.

After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Paige clenched her fists tightly as a fresh wave of tears dripped from her eyes. "I think you should go, Walter."

"But Paige –"

"Don't bother me again," Paige forced out between silent sobs but as she tried to leave, he grabbed her arm desperately. "Let go!" He didn't. "Dammit, Walter. If you love me like you say you do, then let me go this instant!"

Walter then didn't hesitate and released her arm immediately.

Paige didn't move though.

So that was it. He was willing to give up again upon command and not risk anything to keep her standing there. Paige took a few slow steps and then paused again, whispering loud enough for Walter to hear her, "If you really loved me, you wouldn't have let me leave."

With nothing left to say or do, she disappeared as quickly as she could inside the hotel and sprinted for the elevator. And when she was finally alone, when she absolutely certain Walter did not follow her, she sank to the floor of the lift and cried her eyes out.

 **~ SCORPION ~**

* * *

 **WriterFreak001:**

Please let me know what you think so far.

Like I said, this story will be at most five chapters long. Hope you stick with it!


	2. Chapter 2

**WriterFreak001:**

Wow! I never expected such a great turnout for the first chapter! AMAZING! :) Thank you so much for the reviews! I was literally blown away by the response. XD

* * *

 **Warning: Have lots of tissues for this chapter!**

* * *

 **Worth**

 **Written by WriterFreak001**

 **Part 2**

 **~ S** **CORPION ~**

* * *

"' _It was a mistake,' you said. But the cruel thing was, it felt like the mistake was mine, for trusting you." – David Leviathan_

* * *

Her heavy eyelids slowly fluttered open as the morning sun seeped its golden veil through the bright white curtains. She grumbled in protest as the intruding light warmed up her bare arms and her flushed cheeks but froze when she heard soft footfalls approaching her. And then it dawned on her.

She wasn't sleeping in the suite.

Her eyes shot open, not recognizing the soft pink walls surrounding her. Just where the hell was she?! Paige inwardly panicked as she lurched forward, the rosy pink sheets falling away from her. She assessed herself as her hands flew to her chest and sighed in relief. She was still wearing her pjs.

"You might want to check your phone…. _He's_ been calling almost all night."

Paige, startled by Walter's presence, clutched her heart as she turned towards him, her hair whipping wildly from one shoulder to the other. She stared at him as he dropped down into the pink cushioned chair seated right next to the bed, but he didn't say another word. He was still wearing his clothes from last night, too, but he looked as worse as she felt.

Paige followed his eyes as he flicked them towards her phone resting on the nightstand, but she didn't reach for it.

"Where am I?" Paige asked instead as she returned her eyes to his.

"In a hotel room a few floors below the suite. It was the best I could afford at last minute." Walter replied swiftly as he steepled his fingers together. "I would have taken you to the suite I had reserved for the weekend, but I didn't want to disturb Tim if he was sleeping."

Paige shifted in the bed and noticed the pillow and disheveled blankets resting on the couch across the room. She mindlessly bit her lip and then found Walter's eyes again. "Why am I here?"

The genius suddenly avoided her gaze, but he answered her question as honestly as he could. "I took a walk along the lake after you ran off, and after giving you some time to yourself, I thought… I mean… I wanted to check up on you…. I made you cry, and the very thought made me sick so I wanted to try to make things up with you if I could. I paid for a room to crash in after planning to confront you again, but on my way up to the suite, I found you sleeping in the hallway. Not liking the idea of you waking up with sore muscles, I picked you up and carried you down to this room before tucking you into bed." Walter then pointed to the couch. "I slept there for a few hours and then spent the last few watching you sleep."

Paige blanched. "You watched me s-sleep?"

Walter nodded. "I didn't know what else to do."

"Oh God," Paige covered her face, just wanting to die right then and there. "How embarrassing."

"Fascinating, actually," Walter was quick to correct her, and she glared at him.

Paige pushed the covers and sheets away from her and slid off of the bed before stretching in a catlike manner. She arched her back and rolled her shoulders backwards, unaware of her cami rising up a few inches and exposing her belly to Walter. When she straightened herself out, she mindlessly adjusted her camisole and started for the door.

"Thank you for your generosity and kindness," she gave him a weak smile and a small, acknowledging nod, "but I should probably return to the suite now. If Tim's still there, then he's probably wondering where I am."

Paige had her hand on the doorknob when his quiet, insecure question stopped her from leaving. "Did you mean what you said?"

Paige didn't answer.

He rose to his feet and cautiously approached her. "Do you… do you really not trust me?"

Paige closed her eyes and exhaled loudly through her nose as her hand slipped from the knob. Slowly, she turned around and blinked back her tears as she faced him. He was closer than she thought, but he maintained a respectable distance. "When it comes to my personal life… my romantic life…," she emphasized, "I don't." His face fell so took it as a sign to continue. "However," she flexed her fingers, aching to touch his arm, "In all other aspects of my life – Ralph included, I trust you completely. I'm not going to lie. You're the best thing that's ever happened to my son, and in many regards, me, but I can't…," she released a shaky breath, "I can't be in a relationship with you right now… or anybody. The only relationship I should be focusing on is the one I have with my son. He comes first."

"Of course," Walter agreed rather easily, slowly nodding his head. "Before you go…, can you answer another question for me?"

"Sure," Paige said dryly as she twisted her hair into a ponytail and draped it over her right shoulder.

"While I understand why you're sidelining me... to an extent, you briefly implied that you were also going to sideline Tim. I thought… I mean, I assumed if things didn't go well for us, you'd be… uh, taking a chance on him since he's – well – he's, in an annoying way, a perfect candidate f-for you." He scratched the side of his neck and loosened his collar. "Did I… Did I assume incorrectly?"

Paige decided it was best not to tell Walter about the kiss last night. Casually, she bit her lip and glanced at the man's feet. "Tim's nice and sweet and mostly caring, but…," she feigned a smile, "I'm just not ready to move on."

"Move on or let go?" Paige suddenly met Walter's gaze, and the intensity behind the man's eyes made her weak in the knees.

"A little bit of both, I guess," she shrugged, noticing her phone still sitting on the bedside table. Without a word, she passed Walter and circled around the bed to fetch it. She clicked to view her notifications and noticed eight missed calls and many unanswered texts from Tim. Another missed call – from about five minutes ag0 – was from Ralph, but as she was about to call him back, another phone buzzed loudly. She turned around as Walter immediately answered his phone.

"Hey, buddy! Everything okay?"

Paige dropped her phone, rushed over to the genius and tried to grab his cell from him, but Walter extended his arm in front of her to block her from moving closer to him. When she tried to reach from behind, he whirled around and easily avoided her. (And he claimed he wasn't good at sports.)

"You and Sylvester are going to the Science Museum today?" Walter's eyebrows shot upward as he over-exaggerated his excitement. No matter what she was currently feeling about him, she would never discredit Walter's amazing ability to connect with kids, and even though she _was_ mad at him, his relationship with Ralph would always be precious to her. "That's great! Be sure to tell me all about it when I get back, okay?" There was a short pause. "Do I know where your mom is?" Paige's ears perked and she tried reaching for the phone again, but Walter's height outmatched hers as he dodged her. Again. "Tim called you? Really? Why? What did he say?"

As Paige ungracefully jumped to try and grab the phone from Walter before Ralph could answer him, she lost her footing and collided into the genius, knocking both of them to the ground. She had braced for an unpleasant impact, but it never came. Popping one eye open, she found herself gripping Walter's shirt, her head resting on the very man's chest.

His heart was beating insanely fast, and she dared to turn her chin and look at him. He seemed uncomfortable, but he didn't make an effort to push her off of him or try to move. Instead, he opened his eyes and gave her a small smile. "Don't take this the wrong way, but," Walter's face contorted, "I can't feel my crotch."

Paige flushed. "Excuse me?!"

"Your knee." Walter noted through his pained expression, "it's pushed up against my crotch. Very uncomfortable."

Before she could react, a small voice echoed over them. " _Walter? You there? Was that… Was that Mom's voice I heard? Is she with you?_ "

Paige's eyes grew wide when she realized what her son could have heard. Almost instantly, Paige pushed off of Walter and ignored his soft grunt as she snatched the phone off of the floor and walked towards the bed. Sitting with her back towards the crippled genius on the floor, Paige held Walter's phone up to her ear and muttered, "I'm here, baby."

" _So you're in Tahoe with Walter now?"_

"No. Walter was just… helping me out with something. I'm going to meet Tim in a little while. The festival starts in a few hours, and I don't want to miss too much of it." Paige smiled a little. "Especially if I plan on buying a few souvenirs for you when I return."

" _If you're still in Tahoe with Tim, then why has he been trying to reach you almost all night?"_

A fair question.

"There was a… misunderstanding," Paige whispered low enough so Walter wouldn't be able to hear her. Wanting to change the subject, Paige turned the focus of the conversation onto Ralph. "So. Science Museum, huh?"

" _Yep, and Sylvester says he'll buy me a bunch of things from the gift shop!"_ Ralph exclaimed loudly, causing the young mother to hold the phone away from her ear. _"When you and Walter get back home, I want to go again because there's a special 'for a limited time only' exhibit in the planetarium that I really want to see with you guys. We would go today, but the exhibit starts at nine tonight, and Sly doesn't like riding the city bus after daylight."_

"Smart man," Paige laughed quietly and sighed softly, not having the heart to turn down her son's invitation. It wasn't that she didn't want to go, but… watching Walter interact with Ralph was one of the things that she fell in love with as she started falling for the man…, and watching them again – after he had broken her heart – would be too painful to endure. She might trust Walter with Ralph, but she didn't know if she would ever trust him again with her heart. "Hey, listen," she shook away her thoughts and focused on her son, "Mommy's gotta go. Big day ahead so I'll call you tonight, okay? Then, you can tell me all about your trip to the Science Museum, and I'll tell you all about my first day in Tahoe. Deal?"

" _Deal._ "

"We'll talk about seeing the special exhibit when I get home, okay?"

" _Okay_." She could hear the beaming smile in his voice. She grinned ear to ear.

"I love you, baby."

" _Bye, Mom._ "

"Bye sweetie." Paige muttered, knowing, in her heart, that her son loved her dearly. "I'll see you in a few days." As soon as Paige ended the call, she picked up her own phone and slipped off the bed before turning towards Walter. He was sitting in the chair again, clearly recovered from the previous incident, and as she headed for the door, she tossed him his phone. "I really should get going," she said as he clumsily caught it, his elbow almost knocking over the lamp. "Tim's probably organizing a search party as we speak."

Walter slowly rose to his feet and approached her, digging his hands deep into his pockets. "What sort of misunderstanding did you and Tim have?"

"Were you listening to me?!"

"It's kind of hard not to overhear a conversation when the conversation is happening less than ten feet away…." Walter forced a chuckle, but his small smile died when she glared at him. He cleared his throat loudly and repeated his question. "S-So," his voice cracked a little, "what h-happened between you and Tim?"

"It's none of your business," Paige frowned as she placed her hand on the doorknob. "I'm handling it."

"Handling what, exactly?" His eyes suddenly darkened and his hands crumpled into fists. "Did he… did he hurt you? Or…"

"No, he didn't hurt me," Paige shook her head, not wanting Walter to assume the worst of Tim. "He just… I was just… I gave him some mixed signals, and something happened because of it, but now I'm handling it."

"Is whatever he did the reason I found you outside the hotel last night?" Walter took a step closer, his body inches away from hers. She could feel a mixture of anger and heat radiating off of him, and she sighed, knowing he was never going to give up his string of questions until he was satisfied.

"Yes," she nodded.

There was a brief moment of silence before Walter's hand firmly gripped her arm. "Paige," his warm breath made her shiver, " _What_ happened?"

Paige, enchanted by his closeness, couldn't formulate an answer. He was too close, _way too close_. His palm was still wrapped around her wrist, and his chest was leaning against her right shoulder blade, and his nose was faintly touching the tip of her ear. She inhaled a deep breath and exhaled through her nose as she stared at the white wooden door.

"If I tell you, will you back off and leave us alone?"

"That solely depends on what happened," was Walter's quick reply.

Once again, Paige's hand fell from the doorknob as she turned towards him. He took a step back but kept holding her wrist. Perhaps she was a flight risk to him. And maybe she was a flight risk to herself, too.

"If you must know," Paige clucked her tongue and absentmindedly crossed her arms, "Tim kissed me last night. Turned out I wasn't ready for that kind of relationship with him yet so I pushed him away and ran. End of story."

"H-He kissed you?!"

"Yes, Walter," she sighed and rubbed her temples in small circles, "he kissed me. That's what most couples do when they're on three-day romantic getaways."

"I didn't send you away with Tim so you two could get more friendly, though," Walter frowned, clearly upset with her revelation.

"But didn't you though?!" Paige threw her hands up into the air and just stared at him. "Face it. You cared more about Scorpion than me, and _that's_ why you encouraged me to go out with Tim. You said it yourself back in the office last night. The feelings," she blinked back tears as her nose started to burn, "The feelings that we have for each other, that we've had _all year_ for each other, can't be recognized because they would _derail_ the team!"

"I didn't say that."

"Yes, you did!" Paige nearly screamed, passing her breaking point. "You said it loud and clear, Walter," she took a step towards him and poked him hard in the chest, "and you may have thought you were talking about Happy and Toby, but you really weren't."

"Okay, I technically did say those things, and I was actually talking about us… about how I felt, but… that… that wasn't me trying to dissolve our relationship or anything…. That was me trying to process something I didn't understand. I _feel_ so much when I'm with you, Paige, and when Happy and Toby – the best example I had of a working relationship – fall apart, _how else_ am I supposed to react?!" He was the one throwing his hands up now. "Seeing them… seeing them fall apart like that in one instant – _h-how_ could I have had any hope for us?!"

"If that was the case," Paige's nose flared as she folded her arms again, "then why didn't you talk to me? Why didn't you ask me to stay so you could talk to me about it? We used to be so good with communicating. We used to be so good with telling each other what was on our minds and leaning on each other. What happened to that, Walter?!" Not sure what else to do, she clutched his shirt and shook him as hard as she could. "What _happened_ to us?!"

"I…," his voice was suddenly calm, "I don't know."

A tear fell from Paige's right eye as she shut them tightly. After inhaling a shaky breath, her nostrils flared as she released it. She stood there silently for a few minutes before eventually opening her eyes to Walter's. "Until we figure out the underlining issue," she swallowed thickly, "…how we can fix this mess…," she backed away from him, "we can't… we can't be together."

Walter reached out for her, but she stepped backwards to avoid his touch. "Why not?"

"Because," another tear fell, "if we pretend like nothing's wrong, it'll destabilize our relationship, and… no matter what's happening now," Paige pushed back her hair and let out another shaky breath, "you are still an important part of my life, and I don't want us to ruin the friendship we have… or the relationship you have with Ralph."

"So what… you're just going to sideline me and date Tim instead?!" Walter suddenly grew angry, almost as angry as the time he chastised her for planning to leave for Portland. "That's preposterous!"

"And what if I did?!" Paige was back to screaming again, and she stormed up to him, giving him a small push. "What if I decided I wanted to be with someone who pays attention to me, who isn't afraid to give me compliments or make me feel special inside?! Is that such a bad thing, Walter?! Is it such a horrible thing for me to want someone to make me feel loved?!"

"But that's just it!" Walter stepped forward, gripping her shoulders tightly. "He _doesn't_ love you! He hardly even knows you!"

"That may be true, but at least he isn't afraid of taking a chance with me, Walter O'Brien!" Paige whipped around and strode to the door but paused when she heard him speak.

"If that's how you feel," Walter's voice was shaking, "then don't come crying to me when he leaves and breaks your heart."

Paige fell apart inside as tears uncontrollably fell down her cheeks. "Don't w-worry," she wanted to throw up, "you've already broken it."

Paige never left a room so fast.

And Walter didn't stop her.

…

Go figure.

 **~ SCORPION ~**

* * *

 **WriterFreak001:**

The ending was really hard to write because I hate it when my babies fight. :(

For those of you who are worried, this is Waige hitting rock bottom. It can only go up from here. ;) Waige will be banging in no time. Heh.


	3. Chapter 3

**WriterFreak001:**

 **It makes me really happy that a lot of people are enjoying this fic! :) It seems like I haven't lost my touch after all. :) I know the last two chapters were very painful to read, but this one has a promising ending.**

 **Trigger warning: suicide briefly mentioned.**

* * *

 **Worth**

 **Written by WriterFreak001**

 **Part 3**

 **~ S** **CORPION ~**

* * *

" _Sometimes I wonder, what happened to us...Where did we go wrong...It [would] be hard accepting reality without you."–_ Unknown

* * *

Paige didn't know how long she had been sitting outside the suite with face buried between her knees until the door swung open. She jumped a little when the knob smacked against the wall, but she wasn't surprised to find Tim with a frown on his face. He was probably still peeved about how things went down last night… and how she didn't answer any of his calls or texts….

"Where have you been?" He asked almost as soon as she looked up at him. "And why haven't you been answering your phone? I've called and texted about a dozen times!" He took in a breath but didn't leave her enough time to answer. "Look, Paige." He shoved his hands into his pockets and knelt in front of her as his voice softened. "I like you. A lot. We've been on a few dates these past couple of weeks so I apologize if I assumed you were ready for the next phase in our relationship – if what we have is even called a relationship." He suddenly seemed spiteful. "But if you're not ready for something, then tell me. You running out like that last night made me feel like the bad guy for kissing you when you clearly weren't ready for it."

Paige inhaled a deep breath and exhaled slowly as she curled a strand of her loose hair behind her ear. "I won't apologize for running. It was my gut instinct, and I needed some air, but I will say I'm sorry for not answering your calls and texts. I was just…"she decided not to tell him where she was all night, "I needed to clear my head so I rented spare room for the night."

"A text or a call would have been nice." Tim frowned, clearly unhappy with her.

And that was not okay.

She did nothing wrong.

"You're not my boyfriend. I don't have to give you a detailed report of everywhere I go. I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself," Paige clenched her fingers and pushed herself off of the ground. "Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to get ready for the day. Feel free to attend the festivities without me because it's going to take a while for me to get ready."

Tim swiped the card key, and Paige opened the door. As she slipped inside, Tim followed. "What's gotten into you this morning?" Tim folded his arms in front of him. "I understand you being upset after I kissed you last night, but something else is bothering you. Something much bigger than some lousy kiss."

Paige shot him a dirty look, daring him to speak again.

"Oookayyy," Tim waved his hands in defense and started walking backwards towards the door. "I'll just… grab some breakfast."

"You do that," Paige mumbled as she looked the other way, making her way to her luggage bag. When she heard the door close behind her, she clutched her heart and trembled as she sank the floor next to the second bed.

She didn't mean to be rude to Tim and to push him outside of the suite, but she really didn't want to deal with men right now. One made her a little uncomfortable last night, and the other had broken her heart, and she was just damn tired of people toying with her emotions.

Maybe she should swear off men altogether and become a nun.

As she picked herself up and slowly rose to her feet, she sauntered over to her luggage bag and sifted through her clothes for her toiletries caddy. Once found, she set it aside and searched for an outfit to wear, settling with casual black sandals, long black slacks and a purple, modest blouse. After last night and this morning, modest was all she wanted to wear.

After neatly placing her clothes on the unused bed, she picked up her caddy and headed for the bathroom to clean up. Even though the first several hours of this trip had been very crappy ones, she was going to take full advantage of the large hot tub, _especially_ since it was a free luxury.

(After all, she was a single mother and hardly had the time to pamper herself back home.)

Paige lifted up her pajama top and shrugged it off of her before sliding out of her silky, lavender PJ pants and her matching panties. Then she tied up her hair into a messy bun before tiptoeing over to the tub to turn it on, and as soon as it was filled with enough warm water, she climbed into the basin.

Once the water jets were turned on, she visibly relaxed and closed her eyes as the tepid water beat against her body. Now _this_ was heaven.

(At least she could enjoy _one_ good thing on this trip even if the rest of it ended up being awful.)

…

After what seemed like an eternity of paradise, Paige eventually finished getting ready for the day, somehow feeling much better than earlier. As soon as she buckled her shoe, she hopped off of the extra bed and grabbed her purse, prepared to face whatever the day would bring.

But she certainly was not prepared for the unwanted surprise waiting behind the door.

As soon as she turned the handle and pulled the door open, an unruly Walter sprang into the suite and locked both of them inside. His hair was wild and unkempt, his face was unshaven, and he had a desperate look in his eyes that made Paige almost feel sorry for him.

Almost.

"Did you come here to yell at me some more?" The exhaustion from last night and this morning was creeping back, and she didn't have the patience to deal with him today.

"No," he combed his fingers through his curls and started pacing.

"Then what are you doing here?" She folded her arms in front of her and frowned. "I have somewhere to be so if you have something else to say, make it quick."

He started to visibly panic as he shook his head violently, exclaiming, "No! No! No!" Paige froze, seeing the love of her life physically and mentally break down. The last time she had seen something like this was… when they first met when he couldn't figure out the LAX crisis. Before she could say something… ask him what was wrong, he started mumbling rapidly to himself, only able to understand the first two things he said. "I can't lose her again," and "It wasn't supposed to end this way."

Paige inhaled a deep breath and closed her eyes briefly, knowing only one thing could cause him to panic. She breathed out through her nose and forcibly grabbed his shoulders. His eyes immediately found hers and she slid her palms to his hands to comfort him. Hopefully she wasn't going to regret this later. "I'm not going anywhere." Her words didn't seem to reach him as he continued fidgeting underneath her touch. "Walter," she found herself cupping his face as she placed more emphasis on his name, "I'm _not_ going _anywhere_."

Slowly, he began to relax, but she didn't remove her hands from his face until she was sure he was okay. "You said you had somewhere to be."

"I _do_ have somewhere to be," she nodded, "but it can wait." She then slid her palms to his shoulders again. "Are you okay?"

"I think," Walter gave her a slight nod. "I really don't know what came over me, though…."

"I think I know," Paige muttered softly, and he immediately gave her his undivided attention. She grabbed his wrist and tugged him towards the sofa in the living area, gesturing him to sit down next to her as she dropped down to the cushion. It was strange, really. After all of the yelling and fighting last night and this morning, Paige found it a bit alarming that she was still allowing herself to talk to this man. He had broken her heart in more ways than she could count, and yet, here they were.

Why was she so drawn to this man?

And why did she continue to hold onto him after all of the tears he had made her cry?

Hell if she knew.

"You fear abandonment," Paige replied eventually, feeling the weight of his eyes trained on her as she stared at the Picasso painting on the wall in front of her. "A lot of people you love and care for… have abandoned you in some sort of way. And now, after everything you've been through, the thought of another person leaving scares you. You constantly wonder if there's something wrong with you or if you're destined to live a lonely life, and when someone you love or care about _does_ threaten to leave, it has a negative effect on you." Paige paused and inhaled a shaky breath but then continued.

"The first time I threatened to leave with Ralph for Portland, Maine, you didn't know how to handle the emotion you were feeling so you lashed out and ultimately lost control of the car you were driving. Then Megan – may she rest in peace - passed away, and you went void of emotions for almost six weeks before breaking down after you thought Ferret Bueller had left too. The second time I threatened to leave, you were incredibly reckless, taking on a case that involved infiltrating Fort Knox. If you were levelheaded, you would have fact-checked everything and would have realized the case was a phony right away. Now this. Now us. Either you feel threatened by Tim and think he's going to whisk me away from Scorpion as your liaison, or you fear that your anger from this morning has ultimately pushed me out of your life forever." She finally glanced at him with tired eyes. "How am I doing so far?"

"How did you—"

"Know?"

Walter pursed his lips and nodded.

Paige looked down towards the wooden floor. "Because I've been abandoned in my life too." She bit her lip and lightly chuckled. "You know," Paige turned slightly and found his eyes, "you and I are not as different as you might think. Though I don't process things like you, and I don't outwardly show my emotion as much as you do, I still know and recognize all of the signs."

"I'm not like Drew. I wouldn't abandon you." Walter said almost immediately, and she shook her head slowly.

"Drew's not the only person who's left me, Walter." Paige found a stain on the wall and focused on it as she felt Walter shift closer to her. She tried not to think about it too much. "When I was seven, my older brother committed suicide. His death was shocking, and it ultimately weakened my family. My mom died a year later from heartache, and my dad and I were estranged. I ended up living with my grandmother, and she raised me until I was sixteen, and after she died, I was back to living with my dad. By then, I was old enough to do my own thing so I didn't bother him whenever we were home together. He was mostly in his office, anyway. So for two or so years, I was a nobody at home. And when I turned eighteen, I was glad to move out. I didn't even tell him which college I was going to. Three months later, I met Drew, then had Ralph, then Drew left, and since I knew my father wouldn't take me and Ralph in, we were on our own, and we did just fine without him – _and_ Drew – too."

Walter was silent for a moment. "I had no idea."

"No one does, and I'd like to keep it that way," Paige replied as she pushed herself off of the couch and stretched. "Now that you know my sob story, you can understand why I can't trust you right now, Walter. And after the things you said this morning, I don't know if I'll _ever_ trust you again." Her voice then cracked. "I want to, but…," she blinked back her tears and swallowed the lump in her throat, "you really hurt me, Walter."

"I know," Walter didn't argue. "And I'm really sorry."

"Sorry isn't going to fix things, Walter. Not this time." Paige started to walk away, but Walter swiftly grabbed her arm. "Let go, Walter," she pleaded quietly. "Please."

"Paige," Walter called her name out desperately, and he sounded as broken as she felt, "Give me five minutes. _Please_."

She closed her eyes and inhaled another shaky breath. "Fine," she exhaled through her nostrils. "Five minutes."

Walter circled around her so that she could see him and shoved his hands into his pockets. He was silent for a few seconds before finally meeting her eyes. "I was the biggest idiot in the world for encouraging you to come here with Tim."

"Damn straight."

"Please let me talk. I only have five minutes, remember?" Walter spoke quickly, and she nodded, telling him to proceed. "I let you go once. Twice, even. But I'm done running and hiding from the feelings I feel for you, and I don't want that fight we had to be the last exchange we share."

"Walter…"

"I-I know you don't trust me, but you _have to know_ I'm not giving up on you… on us…." He paused and took a breath before continuing. "What I said this morning… I can't take those words back, and I can't unhurt you, but you _have to know_ that I didn't mean _any_ of it. If you want to date Tim, fine. I can't stop you. I may hate the guy, but if he makes you happy, then that's all that really matters to me." He offered her a small smile even though she didn't return it. "A-and if… if he does end up hurting you, then by all means," he nodded swiftly, "come to me…. I'll punch him as many times as you want me to."

Paige mindlessly pushed her hair away from her face and released a shaky breath, not finding his final statement humorous. "Not that it's any of your business…, but I don't think it's going to work out with Tim anyway."

"Oh?" Walter definitely seemed pleased.

Paige shrugged. "We want different things."

"What…," Walter shifted the weight of his feet, "what do you mean?"

The woman sighed and mindlessly took a step closer to him. "Though he won't admit it, I don't think Tim is the committed type. He's been a Navy SEAL for years, never in one place for too long. I don't think he knows how to have a committed relationship more than you do, no offence, and I'm not convinced he's ready to try…. If he was, and if he sensed we were heading towards something more, he would have opened the topic up for discussion instead of jumping to conclusions and assuming I wanted him romantically."

"W-What about you?" Walter pursed his lips, never looking away from her. "What do _you_ want?"

She gave him a tired smile. "Someone I can't have."

"Paige…"

Paige shook her head. "No, Walter. We can't."

"Why not?"

"Just look at us," Paige signaled between them as she started walking towards the door again. "If we're not arguing, we're setting up for another argument! How are we supposed to function as a couple, if we can barely handle ourselves?" She rubbed her temples and collapsed onto the bed, suddenly needing an aspirin. "I have son I need to raise, and you have a company to run." She looked at him as he boldly sat down next to her. "Both things are too important to jeopardize."

Walter turned his head and stared at the window far across the suite. "A year ago, I would have agreed with you. In fact, I _did_ agree with you, and that's why we decided it would be best if we stayed as friends, but, you and I both know a lot has happened since that decision."

"Yes," Paige nodded in agreement. "A lot _has_ happened, and I'm flattered, Walter, that you love me. Truly, I am, but," she gave him a sad smile, "It's… it's too risky."

"But aren't you the one who said, 'When it comes to the people you love, you have to take risks?'" Walter turned towards her again and found her eyes as she remained there speechless. "Repeatedly, you have called love crazy and risky and messy, but you've always believed that it was worth it. Do you not," Walter frowned slightly, "Do you not believe in that philosophy anymore?"

Paige laughed emotionlessly and looked down at her fingers as she picked at her nails. "I've always believed in it for other people," she slowly stood up with her back facing Walter. "I just don't believe in it for myself anymore."

"And why not?"

"Because," Paige closed her eyes and swallowed thickly before turning towards him. "Because all love ever does to me is bring me heartache, and I'm tired of it. I'm tired of not being good enough for the men in my life because honestly, that is the only explanation," she started yelling again, "I can think of that would explain why every man that I've ever loved – my brother, my father, Drew a-and," her voice cracked as she blinked back her tears, "and you – continue leaving!"

Walter immediately rose to his feet and, on impulse, he tightly wrapped his arms around her, pressing her back hard against his chest. "You think you're not good enough for me? Oh, Paige," Walter found himself hugging her tighter, "that is far from the truth."

Paige's body went limp against Walter, too tired to fight with him and too tired to argue.

"You are more a marvel than anything I have ever encountered," Walter mumbled softly, still holding her tightly against him. "Before you, my life revolved around math and science, and I thought those things were all I would ever need, but after you and Ralph came into my life, I've begun to realize that there are far more important things to life than math and science. Eighty-five percent of the time, you are all I think about, day and night. Not only do I wonder about the things you do, but I keep asking myself how a woman like you could outshine the sun. It's physically impossible, but completely accurate at the same time. I can't explain the logic behind it, but it's true. And because of that rationalization, I've realized that statistical facts do not always sustain truth." He paused as his lips nuzzled against her ear, causing her to shiver down to her toes. "You are worth _everything_ to me, Paige. Without you…, without Ralph…, I…," he daringly kissed her neck, "I'm nothing."

Paige found herself naturally leaning into Walter's embrace as she closed her eyes slowly. "I've heard it all before, Walter." Paige shifted in his embrace and gazed deeply into his dark irises. "Right now, those are all just words to me. What makes what you say different than all of the others?"

"I…," Walter's palms slid down to her waist. "I can't tell you."

"That's too bad," Paige's shoulders dropped as she forced her way out of Walter's embrace. She haphazardly grabbed her purse and clumsily approached the door while almost tripping over her own feet.

She jerked on the door handle and violently ripped it open, slowly mumbling. "Don't follow me."

Just like that, she was gone again.

But _this_ time, Walter O'Brien followed.

He wasn't done answering her question.

* * *

 **~ SCORPION ~**

 **WriterFreak001:**

Two more chapters to go!

Sorry it took a little longer to update. I had a little more difficulty getting this chapter started than the other ones. I hope this installment makes sense, though. I sort of wrote the chapter in chunks.

Please let me know what you think!

* * *

 **ADDED AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **9/1/2017**

 **For those of you who are reading this story now, please keep in mind that Paige's backstory was written BEFORE Season 3 aired on TV. Obviously, Paige's backstory in this chapter is not the same as her backstory on the show in retrospect. That goes the same for my other fics. Any chapter with incorrect backstories of a character is only incorrect because they were written before the** _ **real**_ **backstories have been established on the show. If I knew Paige's backstory before writing this chapter, I would have not written it the way I did….**

 **Please keep that in mind as you read any story with incorrect backstories by any character; it may be incorrect if compared to the show presently aired, but it might be considered correct for that story and that story alone.**

 **Just because Paige's backstory is different in this fic than it is on the show (only because I wrote the chapter before Season 3 aired), it doesn't mean I will change it. At the time I write a story, I write what I know and make up what I don't (when it comes to characters). If the history of a character unveils itself throughout the show, that's great! Awesome! Fanfic fodder for the future! But that doesn't mean what I've written beforehand needs to be altered to fit the show….**

 **When readers start a fic they haven't read before, please,** _ **please**_ **pay attention to the "Publish date" before accusing someone of being wrong on certain details. It just might be the case where the writer had to make them up because they weren't canonically established at the time.**

 **Sorry, I didn't mean to vent, but I feel like this was an important issue to share after receiving that review. If you would like to discuss this further or have questions about any of my stories, feel free to send me a private message. :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**WriterFreak001:**

I'm not sure about this one. While certain parts of it came along easily, I struggled with the ending of the chapter a bit so I hope it isn't too lame. -_-;

* * *

 **Worth**

 **Written by WriterFreak001**

 **Part 4**

 **~ S** **CORPION ~**

* * *

" _If you love her. If you want her to stay. Fight for her."  
― Janet Gurtler, __**The Truth About Us**_

* * *

 **Walter's POV**

Answering Paige's question with words was not possible for Walter O'Brien. He could certainly try to forcibly yank them past his teeth, but sputtering out a string of words he had just begun to understand wouldn't do anyone any good. If anything, Walter O'Brien was best known for his array of emotions (even though he incessantly denied ever even having them), and if there was ever a time to emote effectively (two words he never thought he would use together in a single phrase), it would certainly be now.

He caught up to Paige the moment she walked into the elevator and grabbed her hand, whirling her out into the hallway until her back was pressed hard against the wall. Walter then trapped her between his arms as he placed his hands on both sides of her head against the mustard-color plaster and leaned in close until he could smell lavender.

Paige's soulful eyes dared him to move, and in response, he muttered, "You wanted me to tell you why my loving you is different than all of the others, and I can't. I can't tell you, Paige," he boldly curled a strand of her silky hair behind her ear, "I don't know if I'll ever be able to tell you."

"And why is that," Paige challenged him with fiery eyes. "Am I not good enough?"

"Au contraire," Walter mumbled against her ear with a quiet chuckle, "You're perfect, Paige. Everything about you is flawlessly perfect, and I wish I could tell you everything I am feeling, everything you want to hear, but like you said before, they were all just words. If everything I am conveying to you is no more than empty words, then what makes you think more words would be more of a comfort for you?"

"Point made," Paige murmured as she tried to push him away from her. He immediately grabbed her hands and linked his fingers with hers as he slammed them back against the wall. The impact surprised them both, but Paige didn't fight back, and Walter leaned dangerously closer. She just stood there with a frown, her eyes daring him to continue.

Walter looked at her curiously. "Remember last night when I kissed you, and you started kissing me back?"

"How could I forget?" How could _either_ of them forget?

"Just out of curiosity," Walter mused, "why _did_ you kiss me back?" When she didn't answer, he rephrased the question to gauge a response. "You say you love me too. Did you kiss me back last night because you love me? Or was it something else?"

"I kissed you back, Walter, because, at first, I didn't see a reason to stop." Paige admonished as her cheeks flushed pink. "You have no idea how long I've waited for you to acknowledge _something_ going on between us; though I didn't anticipate you admitting your love to me, I was greatly surprised, and for a moment, very happy." She gave him a sad smile. "For that moment, as you kissed me, I remembered where my heart belonged, and I didn't want any of it to end."

"Then why did you end it?" Walter pressed, and Paige gave him an exhausting look.

"Must we go over that again."

"Right. Moving on." Walter nodded in agreement and then refocused the conversation back to his main point. "So basically, what you're saying is that you felt something last night when we kissed." Paige bit her lip and gave him a slow nod. "So," Walter hummed quietly, "theoretically," he couldn't help the small smirk pulling at his lips, "if I kissed you again, and you ended up kissing me back, there's a great chance it's because you still feel something between us?"

"In theory, yes." Paige replied honestly but then looked at him suspiciously. "You're not going to kiss me, are you?"

Walter shook his head and chuckled. "Not at the moment." As much as he wanted to slam-kiss her against the whole entire hallway, he restrained himself and decided the element of surprise was the better plan of action. He didn't want her to expect anything, and everything he wanted both of them to feel needed to be raw. No sense in testing out his theory if they kiss right now. "But _when_ I do, and I will," he added with confidence, "I will then fully answer your question."

Paige opened her mouth to reply, but her cellphone blasted from her purse, causing both of them to jump. She glanced over to her purse and then snapped her attention back to Walter. "It's probably Tim."

"Are you going to answer it?"

Paige nodded. "I probably should. After the grief I gave him last night, it's the least I can do." Without a word, Walter took a step back and released her left hand but still held her right, not ready to let go. Paige bent down and fished through her lavender purse in search of her phone. Once finding it, she rose upward and glanced at the screen as Walter noticed Tim's name blearing from the screen. Paige swiftly answered it, almost shouting into the phone in the process. "Hello!" She cleared her throat and softened her voice. "H-Hello?" … "I answered, didn't I?" … "I was… still in the shower." Walter grinned with amusement as Paige gave Walter a wide-eyed 'What else am I supposed to say?' look. " _Yes_ , Tim. I took that long of a shower. It was relaxing and a free luxury, and I was exhausted." … "Am I ready?" She paused and gave herself a onceover. "Yes. I'm ready. I'll be down in the lobby shortly. See you soon. Bye."

Paige ended the call and dropped her phone into her purse before returning her attention to Walter. "I… I have to go."

"I know." He then smirked. "So Tim doesn't know I'm here?"

"I haven't told him, no."

"Why not?"

"I can think of a few reasons," Paige shrugged before slowly turning towards the elevator. Walter loosened his grip on her fingers, and she pressed the down button as she slowly walked away from him. And as she waited for the lift, she gripped her purse strap and, without turning around, she said his name quietly. "Walter?"

"Yeah?" He was immediately behind her, prepared to hear whatever she was wanting to say.

As the elevator doors opened, Paige combed her fingers through her hair and muttered, "Don't give up yet."

He smiled, knowing that _something_ he said must have gotten through to her.

"Trust me. I won't."

 **~ SCORPION ~**

 **Paige's POV**

Paige floated into the elevator and closed her eyes as she leaned against the cold, marble wall after pressing the lobby button. Secretly, she hoped the elevator would take its sweet, precious time descending so she could have a few moments to herself before rejoining Tim. Until last night… until this morning, she thought she had made up her mind when she decided to forget Walter and move on with Tim. And maybe she did. Maybe she did make up her mind, but she knew, deep down, her heart didn't agree.

Sure, she liked Tim. He was an easy-going person who was easy to talk to and didn't shy away from his feelings unlike a certain genius she knew (and loved). She could talk for hours with Tim, and she mostly enjoyed the time she had spent with him over the last several weeks, but… no matter how much she did like Tim, she didn't love him like she loved Walter.

Not to mention that kissing Tim felt like kissing a rock. Maybe it was because he had surprised her, or maybe it was because his lips had been calloused, but whatever it was, it didn't feel right. She had absolutely no desire to run her hands through his short hair last night, and the way he held her felt uncomfortable. His hands didn't even melt against her the way Walter's did just an hour later.

Sure. Tim was a genuinely nice guy, but… no matter how she planned to handle her future, there was only one man for her. One awkward, socially-stunted, incredible man. Paige had no doubt that Walter loved her. He had showed her in many ways even if he never realized it, but… hearing him say the words clearly and repeatedly was never something she expected from him. And over the past few weeks, after meeting Tim, she had prepared her heart for the worst, believing that Walter would never come to the conclusion that he loved her.

But now that he did, she was scared – horribly scared – that he would wake up one day and realize everything he was feeling was a lie. An illusion. An imbalance of chemicals in the brain. After all, _he_ wasthe one who said love was nothing more than junk science.

Maybe it was just better for her sanity if she pretended she never heard a thing. Things were going well between her and Tim save for that incident last night. Perhaps she should give the Navy SEAL another chance… Or maybe she should just swear men off altogether to prevent further heartbreak.

At least _that_ was a better alternative to kissing dry, chapped lips.

But, oh God, Walter's lips.

His mouth pressed hard against hers was a beautiful sensation that made her heart flutter and her toes curl. Could she really give that up too? What about the way his hands fit perfectly over her breasts last night, and how glorious it felt to have him squeeze them and flick her nipples with his thumbs? Could she really forget it all and move on with her life?

And _what if_ there had been no clothes between them? Would she still be hesitating?

Paige's eyes snapped open to the chime of the elevator, and she groaned quietly. Some romantic weekend _this_ turned out to be. She pushed away from the elevator wall and combed her fingers through her hair. After putting on her best smile (and trying to ignore the fact that she was sexually stimulated right now), she stepped out of the lift as the large doors opened and headed for the lobby.

Spotting Tim impatiently tapping his foot in the lobby immediately turned her off. When he caught sight of her, he kicked away from the wall and approached her in long strides. "I was beginning to think you bailed on me again."

"No," she shook her head, giving him a small, forced smile. "I was just… I needed a little more time to myself so I took a little bit longer in getting ready."

"It's been over an hour."

"Consider yourself lucky," Paige crossed her arms and pursed her lips, "I've been known to take three."

Tim exhaled through his nose and raked his hand through his hair. "So… have you eaten breakfast yet?"

"No."

"Are you hungry?"

"A little bit."

"Okay," Tim nodded. "Let's go to the diner across the street, and then when we're done, we can tour the city a bit before heading to the festival."

Paige widened her tight smile and tightened her grip around her purse. "Sure."

 **~ SCORPION ~**

 **Walter's POV**

Walter refused to go back to Los Angeles until Paige agreed to go home with him. If he returned empty-handed, it would mean he would be admitting defeat, and Walter O'Brien didn't handle failure very well. He was not about to lose the one woman – perhaps the only woman in his lifetime – who unquestionably understood him in more capacities than any other person (save for his late sister, Megan). The odds of him falling in love with another woman who loves him in return were infinitesimal. Paige was the only one.

She had to be.

She _must_ be.

He knew he should have kept his distance and respect her privacy as she spent the day with Tim, but he absolutely could not stand the thought of Paige growing even closer to Tim, even though she made it pretty clear she wasn't going to date the guy.

Wearing a baseball cap, sunglasses, a white T-shirt, jeans and loafers (clothes and accessories he purchased at the hotel's gift shop) was the perfect disguise. He didn't think either one of them would recognize him in such casual attire. He ate breakfast in the furthest corner of the diner, keeping a sharp eye on the pair as they interacted, and when they finished, he followed them religiously. Any time Tim or Paige would turn around, he'd hide behind the nearest object or pretend to engage himself with the people around him. He really was outside of his comfort zone, but Paige was worth it.

She was absolutely worth it.

By the time lunch came around, they stopped at the nearest Subway. He waited a minute before casually walking inside and sat down in the booth furthest away from the rest of the crowd. He couldn't care less what Tim ordered, but his ears perked when he heard Paige voice her order.

"I'd like to have a Subway Club chopped salad, please."

Next, she was going to ask for tomatoes, lettuce, spinach and olives with a little bit of vinaigrette on the side because she liked dipping her salad into her dressing to avoid consuming unnecessary carbs and calories.

"And in the salad, I'd like to have both lettuce and spinach, tomatoes and olives," Paige continued with a small smile, and Walter inwardly smirked. He knew her so well. "Oh!" she exclaimed quietly, "Olives! Not onions. Olives, please!" There was a short pause, and then she laughed. "Yes, sorry about that and thank you." She bit her lip and waited a beat before finalizing her order. "I'd also like to have some vinaigrette to go, please." The sandwich artist mixed and chopped up Paige's salad before squeezing some dressing into a tiny, black to-go cup. "Thank you," Paige gave the employee a small nod of appreciation. And just before she paid, she stepped away from the counter, grabbed a bottle of water from the impulse cooler and slightly waved it up and down. "I'll also get this water, too."

As soon as she paid for her lunch, she joined Tim at a booth near the door, and Walter strained his ears to focus on their conversation, but when Tim started telling stories about his days as a Navy SEAL, he quickly tuned out, not really caring how the world's precious Ken doll salvaged this dangerous artifact from this country doing this oh-so-stellar stunt that apparently no one else could have pulled off in time. They were really all the same anyway since there were very few stories he could actually tell without committing treason, but the Navy SEAL seemed proud of his accomplishments nonetheless.

Walter couldn't see Paige's face, but he could tell she was bored. She usually only stabbed at her foot whenever she wasn't interested in a conversation, and whenever she'd try to engage herself into such a conversation, she'd occasionally wave her fork in the air, mindlessly take a bite or two, and then return to stabbing every morsel in front of her. Seeing her do _exactly_ that while Tim wildly waved his arms in the air and made embarrassing (and highly inaccurate) explosion sounds made Walter's apparent grin grow infinitely wider. Hah! Take _that_ , Tim!

Walter slowly rose to his feet and tugged the dark green bill of his baseball cap lower to hide his face as he moved closer to the pair while still maintaining a safe distance. He just wanted to hear them better so he took a seat at a table in of their blindsides and tuned into their voices. Tim was laughing at a joke he had just shared, and Paige was softly giggling, meaning, it wasn't very funny. She was just trying to be polite.

"So, Paige" Walter's ears perked as Tim changed the course of the conversation, "how exactly did you get involved with Scorpion? I mean… no offence, but you're clearly not a genius, like me, and I understand your role on the team, but… what made you decide you wanted to work for a bunch of Einsteins? And how did that even happen anyway?"

Walter scoffed and rolled his eyes, tempted to blow his cover and _kindly_ remind him that the people on Scorpion – save for Cabe and Paige – were leagues smarter than Albert Einstein, but – to his surprise and delight, he didn't have to.

"First of all," Paige leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms in a defensive manner. "No genius on Scorpion likes being called an Einstein, Tim. If you're going to refer to them as a collective, at least call them what they are. Geniuses. Any other term people often use to describe them are often insulting to their intelligences."

Walter couldn't help the dorky grin beaming from his face. He didn't know how it was possible, but he was more in love with her _now_ , than he was five minutes ago.

Before Tim could respond, Paige continued to answer his question with a small smile coloring her lips. "It all started with salt, sugar and creamer packets..."

Tim cocked an eyebrow as Walter envisioned the memory, remembering how he spotted Ralph sitting by himself, playing Chess with diner condiments. It was, perhaps, one of the most important moments of his life, and he would never forget the way Ralph slowly blinked his eyes after Walter had won that first game of Chess, suddenly realizing somebody else could understand him.

"… Later that morning, the man who was fixing the Wi-Fi came back with a team of individuals, and an agent was demanding full use of the diner for a top-secret assignment. Because my boss had some issues with the government, I got stuck with staying behind, and honestly," Paige mindlessly bit her lip, "it was one of the best days of my life. Our lives – Ralph's and mine – were changed that day, and ever since then, we've been a part of Scorpion's team."

 _A very important part, indeed._

"So… because he saw how good you were with the team, Cabe hired you as the company's liaison," Tim deduced before taking a huge bite out of his sandwich.

"No," Paige shook her head slowly. "Cabe wasn't the one who hired me."

"No?"

Paige curled a strand of hair around her finger and casually licked her lips. "Walter was."

Tim blinked with surprise. "Walter hired you? Really?"

Paige suddenly frowned. "Why do you seem so surprised?"

Tim shrugged. "Before joining the team, I read his file, and it didn't seem like he was a very open-minded individual. Seemed more like he was the type to vote against the idea of a liaison, if you ask me."

Paige gave Tim a pointed look, and Walter watched closely to see what she would do. She crossed her ankles and said, "Well, you're wrong. Walter wanted his company to thrive, and he knew Scorpion wouldn't last long if it didn't have a way to connect to Normals, and he also knew that the team needed someone who could keep them on their toes and remind them what's most important. He had seen how I connected with Ralph, I guess, and he also observed me when I was interacting with the team…. When I saw the way he looked at me after I told off Happy, Sly and Toby for speaking crudely in front of my son, I knew there was something brewing inside his mind. I don't want to sound like a narcissist or anything, but I guess you could say I qualified for the vision he had for his team, and _because_ of that vision, we've been very successful for the past two years."

"I see," Tim hummed quietly, and Walter could tell there was something left unsaid. Instead, Tim asked, "So… of all of the cases you've worked, which ones were your favorite?"

"I shouldn't talk about them in a public setting," Paige muttered in a hushed tone.

"Then give me the Cliffs Notes versions," Tim suggested with a shrug. "After all," he chuckled, "you _are_ a liaison; shouldn't be too hard."

"O-Okay," Paige bit her lip hesitantly as Walter scowled under his breath. _She's my liaison._ _My_ _Cliffs Notes._ The woman then smiled. "Well, there was this _one_ assignment where Walter and I had to go undercover…."

"Oh?"

Walter grinned proudly, remembering _exactly_ which case she was referring to. That one was his favorite too.

Paige nodded. "We pretended to be a couple to obtain some information," she grinned slowly. "It was fun."

"How fun?"

Paige's smile grew wider. "Exhilarating."

"Which part?"

Paige hesitated to answer so she awkwardly laughed and bit her bottom lip before describing her second favorite case. "Another one of my favorites was when we had to go to Bosnia. What was supposed to be a simple extraction actually became a rescue mission," she twisted her hair and draped it over her left shoulder. "Though I was deeply regretting going there at the time – being away from my son in a dangerous country and all – I now consider it one of my favorites too."

"Because the team saved someone?"

Paige shook her head as Walter waited impatiently for her answer. "Because it was perhaps the first time I actually felt like a part of the team. I wasn't _just_ translating the world to W-Walter… to everyone…. I was actually in on the action. As scary as it might have been, I didn't feel like I was going through trial runs anymore." Paige paused with a glowing smile, and Walter had to wonder if she was thinking about that moment he had thrown his body over her to protect her, too.

"A few weeks prior," she continued, "we had our first run in with Mark Collins. The team warned me about his mind games, but he said some things… made me doubt my worth to Wal— to the team. And even though I was reassured my job… my role on Scorpion was the most important link, I still struggled with those doubts because, for a while, it seemed as though the team didn't trust me…. I won't lie. There are things in my life that I keep private for a reason, but when Walter… when Happy, Toby and Sly didn't trust me to handle something that didn't concern them," Walter knew she was speaking about the incident with Drew, "I began to wonder if Mark Collins was right after all."

Walter inwardly slapped himself for being so careless back then, and the fact that he was just now learning these things about Paige – something he should lock away since he technically wasn't supposed to hear about them in the first place – made him wonder if there were other times he made her doubt herself. He sure hoped not.

"So that case in Bosnia is a very important reminder that Mark Collins was wrong," Paige gave Tim a small smile. "If I was worthless to the team, Walter wouldn't have thrown himself over me to protect me from rapid gunfire…. That was the first of many times he had physically saved my life," she blushed suddenly, "Walter… He's selfless like that."

As Paige took a sip of her water, Tim leaned forward and asked, "So… were you and Walter ever… involved?"

Walter flushed deeply as Paige nearly choked. "N-No. W-What," she touched her throat as she cleared it, "What gave you that idea?"

Tim, again, shrugged as he took a sip of his soda. "I've seen the way he looks at you when you're not looking. I've also noticed you talk about him _a lot_. Not just now, but all the other times we've had dinner, the Walter topic always finds a way into our conversations."

Paige inhaled a deep breath and breathed out slowly. "It's… complicated."

Tim was suddenly serious. "Do you like him?"

"Like I said," Paige deflected, "It's complicated."

"How is that complicated?" Tim pressed, now crossing his arms. "Either you like him or you don't."

Paige flexed her fingers. "Fine," she snapped, "You want the truth?"

"Please."

Walter watched Paige's tongue swipe over her upper lip. "I love him," she replied simply and quietly. "I love Walter."

Walter noticed Tim's fists clench suddenly at Paige's response. "Then why ask me to come to Tahoe if I'm clearly not the one you want to be with?"

"Walter… h-he gave them to me and suggested I take you," Paige flashed Tim an emotionless smile.

"And why would he do that?" Any smile Tim had been trying to force was now gone.

Paige closed her eyes and inhaled a shaky breath as Walter watched her give Tim an unreadable look. "I don't know. Maybe he was frightened of risk… of abandonment… I really don't know."

"I thought Walter said he felt no fear." Tim shifted a little.

"Oh _believe_ me, Walter has _many_ fears. He just doesn't know it…, but they're there." Paige suddenly stood up and collected her trash before tossing it into the garbage. The genius didn't fail to notice how she quickly wiped a pair of tears before returning to Tim. "D-Do you mind if we talk about something else? I'm not really in the mood to talk about Walter right now."

Tim rose to his feet and nodded. Walter could tell he wasn't done interrogating Paige about her personal relationship with him, but whatever questions Tim still had, were left unsaid. "Sure. I think that's enough oversharing for the day."

"Thanks," Paige said quietly as she picked up her purse. "The festival starts soon, I think. We should get going."

"Of course."

And as they left, Walter didn't move and didn't dare try to follow them.

If he wanted her to fully trust him, he needed to stop trying to control everything. Paige would come to him when she was ready. He would just have to wait for her like she had once waited for him.

 **~ SCORPION ~**

 **Paige's POV**

She felt numb inside as she walked next to Tim. Talking about her personal feelings for Walter and remembering how much it had hurt for him to send her away with another man just before he claimed to have loved her was just too painful to endure. Right now, feeling no emotion was better than feeling it at all.

As they passed through the booths, she kept quiet and watched Tim interact with the vendors and other guests. Tim seemed to be enjoying himself a little too much, and all she wanted to do was get through the day and go to bed. What was supposed to be a relaxing getaway turned out to be a horrible nightmare, and she wished she was home, hugging her son.

"According to Walter's itinerary," Tim suddenly spoke as he pulled out a packet of papers, "the main part of the festival is tonight at Commons Beach, where a bunch of famous jazz musicians – like the Glenn Miller Orchestra – will perform for the audience. So…," Tim looked at his watch, "it's almost two…. We have dinner reservations under Walter's name at Christy Hill – a French restaurant at the beach at five, and," Tim flipped through the packet, "according to Walter's notes, Commons Beach is about an hour's drive, and then another four or five minutes by bus. He recommends leaving about 3:00 PM to account for uncalculated delays, but I don't think that's necessary. We can leave by 3:30 and still get there in plenty of time." Tim looked up from the itinerary and glanced at Paige. "What do you think?"

Paige bit her lip and stayed quiet for a moment. "If Walter suggests we leave at three, I think we should leave at three. He spent a lot of time working on that itinerary for us…, we should at least respect it."

"I guess," Tim shrugged and folded the packet back up before stuffing it into his large zipper pocket. "We should head back to the hotel then and change for dinner."

"Okay," Paige nodded quietly and followed Tim out of the bazaar, wishing she was somewhere else – _anywhere else_ – instead.

…

After Tim exited the bathroom, finally, Paige slid off of her bed and grabbed her toiletry caddy after draping her bathrobe over her arm.

"No need to use the bathroom to change," Tim said suddenly as he gelled his hair. "I'm heading towards the lobby to check out the gift shop and get some coffee. I'll just wait for you down there."

"Okay." Paige nodded and waited a beat before adding, "I promise I won't make you wait as long this time."

"And I promise I won't be a dickhead about it if you do." Tim replied with a small smile. "This weekend is supposed be fun, and I shouldn't have assumed you were ready to take things to another level between us. Obviously you're still not over Walter, and I apologize for making you talk about your feelings for him earlier. It wasn't fair to force you into a conversation you obviously didn't want to partake in. So, again. I'm sorry." Tim offered her an innocent smile. "Do you think we could, I don't know, start over and actually enjoy this festival _as_ friends rather than a couple?"

Paige exhaled quietly through her nose and dropped her shoulders. "Sure. Why not?"

"Great," Tim grinned. "I promise I won't be an ass tonight or for the rest of the weekend, and if you want to sleep in a different hotel room because you're uncomfortable being around me, that's fine. I won't force you to do anything you don't want to do. I've learned my mistake from last night very quickly so… if you're not ready for a relationship with me, that's cool. I can wait; I'm a patient guy."

Paige let out a soft chuckle, but her smile didn't reach her eyes. "Thanks."

Little did she know, Tim knew exactly why and decided he would do something about it.

 **~ SCORPION ~**

 **Tim's POV**

Tim wasn't an idiot. He knew, all along, that Walter was in Tahoe because what were the odds that someone else would own a dark blue Chevy Malibu with the same license plate number as Walter's? And who else would park their car with perfect line of sight to the window of the suite he and Paige were staying in? Not to mention who else would follow Tim and Paige around the godforsaken city and wear sunglasses _inside_ a building?

Tim really liked Paige, but it was very obvious she didn't like him in the way he thought she did. Obviously she still loves Walter, and Walter clearly loves her. Why else would he follow them to Tahoe?

Tim exited the elevator and headed towards the lobby where he spotted the very person he wanted to see sitting down at the bar, fumbling with this phone. Tim dug deep into his pocket and pulled out the tickets to the Jazz Festival concert before slapping them down on the counter in front of Walter.

"Here. Take them."

Walter blinked for a moment and then turned towards Tim but didn't say anything.

"Paige only has eyes for you," Tim replied quietly, "and clearly, you're sulking – so take them because the last thing I want to do is be an ass stealing my employer's woman. If I had known you had feelings for her, I would have backed off because hitting on another's beloved is against my code."

Walter's eyes fell on the yellow tickets. "Are you sure?"

"They were yours to begin with, boss. And though she might not realize it, I know the only person Paige wants to be with – in any capacity – is you. Now if you have really figured out your feelings for her and don't want to return to LA without her, then you'll take those tickets, and you'll take Paige to that concert like a real man." Tim paused to add, "Go change and get your ass up to that beach. I'll drive Paige to the transit station and take her to the restaurant, but the rest is on you. I'm going to pretend to go to the restroom and then I'll leave, so you better be there or else I'll look like an ass for leaving a beautiful woman at a fancy restaurant."

Walter blinked again, but before the genius could say anything, Tim yanked him off of his barstool and gently shoved him towards the elevator. "You'll thank me later!"

And as Walter disappeared inside the elevator doors, Tim smiled and clapped to himself, very proud of his handiwork.

Happy and Cabe now owed him twenty bucks.

 **~ SCORPION ~**

* * *

 **WriterFreak001:**

Sorry it took so long. I kept changing the ending, but I like this one so much better for this chapter. ONE MORE CHAPTER TO GO! :)


	5. Chapter 5

**WriterFreak001:**

Sorry it took so long to post. With struggling with the chapter as well as working 3 jobs, writing / thinking can be very exhausting, haha. I haven't really had a day off in a while!

Many days ago, I posted a survey on Tumblr, and THOUGH a certain choice was more popular than the others, I'm going with a different one because it just felt right to me. I hope I didn't disappoint. Heh.

There will be one more chapter because I had to split Part 5 because it was getting way too long for my liking. I hope to post the last part soon, but with my crazy work schedule this upcoming week, I don't think it will be this week. :/

* * *

 **Worth**

 **Written by WriterFreak001**

 **Part 5**

 **~ S** **CORPION ~**

* * *

" _The love in your heart is greater than all the stars the sky could even hope to have. Hold onto that love, and it will take you higher than the stars themselves."_  
 _― Naya S.,_ _**Still the Storm**_

* * *

Paige couldn't decide if she should wear her hair up tonight or leave it down to cover her shoulders. If she decided to secure her long honey-colored waves into a neat, sophisticated bun, she was pretty sure she would feel too exposed in front of Tim, but if she chose to let her hair fall loose over her décolletage, Tim would probably think she was insecure about being with him or something…. Wouldn't he?

Or would he possibly find her fallen long waves incredibly sexy and an updo exceedingly boring?

And what about her jewelry? Should she decide to go with deep blue and dazzling or silver and simple? Oh God, what if Tim happened to be allergic to certain metals? What if her necklace or her rings or her earrings accidentally gave him hives? What if her perfume was too much? What would she do if she ended up suffocating him before they even arrived to the jazz concert?

Paige, for more minutes than she could count, stood in front of a full length mirror in the far corner of the suite and then sighed. She really didn't know all that much about Tim, did she…. Sure, he was cute. Good looking, even, but other than knowing small pieces of his Navy SEAL days, she barely knew him.

And yet, here she was about to go on a supposedly romantic date with him and possibly return to the suite for… Paige swallowed thickly at the thought. Last night, she was pining for Walter to beg her to stay in LA, and early, _early_ this morning, he was slam-kissing her against the side of the hotel, and she was melting into him, wanting a world of everything with him, and she was almost willing to take their undeniable desire and hunger to a whole new level, but the pain of him sending her away with another man came crashing back down, and she just couldn't let the man she loved with all of her heart continue holding her, kissing her, and loving her no matter how much she wanted him to.

It was just too much way too soon.

First Walter told her to go to Tahoe with Tim, then he chased after her to tell her he loved her, begging her to go back to LA with him, and even after she had told him not to bother her again, he didn't leave.

Paige inhaled deeply.

Surely, he was gone by now.

Paige sighed and gazed at her strapless evening gown… pale blue silk adorned with spiraling sequins…. She smiled softly to herself, wishing she was wearing this dress for somebody else. After all, she bought it months ago when she thought her relationship with Walter was strengthening.

She turned towards the vanity and lifted the simple silver necklace before fastening it around her neck. The small star charm fell just short of her décolletage, and she secured the matching earrings to her earlobes before sliding on the complementing ring and bracelet. She then glanced back into the mirror with her fingertips covering the charm and slowly smiled, biting her bottom lip as she remembered the day she found this beautiful jewelry set sitting on her desk at work a few months ago…

 _It was her birthday, and she begged Ralph not to tell anyone about it because she didn't want it to be a big deal. And because she and Ralph didn't say anything to anybody, nobody knew. She preferred that way because she didn't want to be in the spotlight. After a long day's work and a few hours after everyone else had left, she came down from the loft after taking a much needed nap and spotted a velvet box placed on top of her paperwork. She first glanced at her sleeping son and then to Walter who was still at his computer, typing up a new coding algorithm._

 _Not thinking the gift was from him, she brought her attention back to the box and carefully lifted the lid. She could have sworn she gasped, but because she was so surprised at the beautiful delicacy and simplicity of the jewelry, she didn't really remember her actual response. After she removed her current jewelry, she eagerly replaced it with her new necklace, earrings, ring and bracelet, and as she placed her day jewelry down into the box so she wouldn't lose them, she noticed a small note taped to the inner top of the lid. Gently, she tore it off and unfolded it before finding a small message scrawled with ink._

 _ **Happy Birthday, Paige.**_

 _ **Walter.**_

 _Immediately, she looked up from the note and found Walter looking at her. Searching his eyes, he gave her a small smile, and she couldn't help but return it. And as soon as he returned his attention to his computer, she dropped down to her chair and started finishing up the paperwork, smiling the entire time._

It was perhaps the most romantic thing Walter had ever done for her, but that moment they shared was before the craziness. Before Linda. Before Tim. Before pain and broken hearts. If only they could return to that time and pretend that none of this insane madness ever happened. She could be with him, and he could be with her, and there would be trust again and no complications.

Paige ran her fingers through her loose waves and sighed.

That was a lifetime ago…, and she was too late. There was no going back anymore. Perhaps… perhaps it was best things were this way…

"He's still here, you know."

The woman suddenly froze to the sound of Tim's voice. Slowly, she eventually spun around, the trim of her dress swirling around her legs. "Is _who_ still here?"

"I think you know," Tim replied as he approached her.

Paige inhaled deeply as her cheeks flared and pinned her bottom lip between her teeth before exhaling.

Tears welled up in her eyes as her chest clenched with pain.

Walter never left.

"You look amazing by the way. Breathtaking, even." Tim's smile was gentle, and he sat down on the corner of his bed, loosening his tie before unbuttoning his cufflinks.

Paige blinked back her tears and swallowed thickly before returning her attention to Tim. "Did you… Did you change your mind about dinner and the concert?"

"Yes," Tim nodded honestly with a sad smile. "I gave the tickets to Walter."

"You…," The rest of her thought caught in her throat, prompting her to swallow. "W-Why?"

Tim lifted his hand gently. "Before you get angry, I willingly gave them to him. It's obvious he loves you, and with the way your face lights up whenever you talk about him, it's pretty apparent that you love him too, and I don't want to get in the way of that. These last few weeks were fun, but I could tell you weren't really into any of our dinner dates, Paige."

Paige stood still for several seconds, processing everything Tim was saying.

"I told him I'd take you to dinner and instructed him to surprise you, but I figured you probably wouldn't like being surprised so that's why I'm here telling you to go to him." Tim added as he pulled off his dress shoes. "Which, by the way," Tim took a second to search for something in his pocket and then extended his palm, "I swiped this from Walter earlier…. It's his hotel keycard; I figured it would come in handy somehow, and I was right. So here," he said as he dropped it into her hand, "My parting gift to you."

Paige mindlessly touched the sparkling star gracing her décolletage as she gazed at the door after wrapping her fingers around the keycard. Walter was still there….

"What're ya waiting for?" Tim chuckled as he gestured towards the door, "Go get 'im, Tigress!"

Paige bit her lip and blinked back her tears for a second before she found herself bolting out of the suite and running as fast as she could to the elevator. She must have pushed the DOWN button a gazillion times before the elevator doors opened, and she paced like a madwoman as the lift descended to the desired level. As soon as the doors parted, she sprung out of the elevator as best as her high heels would let her and made a beeline towards Walter's hotel room. She placed her hand on the handle and closed her eyes, willing herself to calm down. She needed to approach him with a clear head, and no matter how much she wanted to pounce him the moment she walked through the door, they had a lot to talk about, and they _needed_ that talk before christening the hotel room.

Paige took a few more seconds to compose herself before sliding the keycard. She heard a soft beep and then waited for the door to click before pulling it open. After she pushed her way inside the room, she jumped a little when the door closed behind her. Paige neatly smoothed down her dress after tossing the keycard to the side and combed her fingers through her hair before looking up to find Walter standing on the terrace, overlooking the sparkling lake. Slowly, she approached him and leaned against the doorjamb, watching him with a small smile as he absentmindedly stared at the yellow jazz tickets between his fingers.

"Pining doesn't suit you, Mr. O'Brien." Her voice was low and seductive; she _wanted_ him to know she was there watching him. Walter visibly froze, and she chuckled softly as she floated over to him, but he didn't turn around.

"Why are you here?" He eventually asked, still overlooking the balcony.

"I made a mistake, Walter. I…," she leaned against the wall of the terrace right next to him and rested her arms on top of the cold brick, suddenly feeling more exposed than she did when he was squeezing her breasts many hours ago. "I was hoping we could talk…."

When he didn't respond, she inhaled deeply and curled a loose strand behind her ear. "Okay, I'll talk. You listen." Since he didn't move, she considered it a good sign. "When you told me you loved me, for a brief moment, I was happy – ecstatic, even. My feelings for you were reciprocated, and God, that kiss… Everything about that kiss was unlike anything I've ever felt before, and that scared me. I've been… wanting to be with you for so long… and after everything that's happened, all I could think about was you pushing me towards another man, and I panicked. M-My heart's been broken once already by a man who cared more for a sport than me and Ralph, and with you," she swallowed thickly and inhaled a deep breath, "with you, I felt like it was happening all over again."

He snapped his attention towards her and opened his mouth to speak, but she held up her left hand to silence him. "You may not have abandoned me in the physical sense, Walter, but you were distancing yourself from me and pushing me away, and granted, you're not the only one at fault here because I've been pushing away some too, but…," she turned away from him and gazed at the orange sunset shimmering over the lake, "I tried giving you another chance, hoping you would take it, hoping you would ask me to stay, but you didn't, and that in itself made me believe being with you would be too painful to endure. I would _always_ be worried of you pushing away, and I can't handle that. I _won't_ handle that. Not ever again."

When she didn't continue, the genius finally spoke.

"I… I'm sorry. I didn't realize I was hurting you so much… I… I was also afraid… of the risks involved in an emotional relationship. But… more than anything," Walter audibly swallowed, "I'm more afraid of loss." When Paige didn't respond, he continued. "My relationship with my parents is a bust; for a long while, my relationship with Cabe was nonexistent; a-and Megan…. I…," he shook his head swiftly, "I can't lose you, Paige. Nor Ralph."

Paige took a step towards him and reached up to cup his face with her hands. "You'll only lose us if you keep pushing us away, and if you really love me –"

"I do," Walter cut her off with enthusiasm.

She suppressed a smile. "If you really want us to be in a relationship," she paused as he nodded swiftly, "then there can be none of that. No more pushing away. You may have noticed, but my first response is to bail whenever I feel threatened of abandonment, and that's why I stopped that kiss. You might love me today, but in month? In a year? Who's to say you won't get bored of me? Or that you'll realize we were a mistake and will want to break things off? I can't be asking myself those questions every single day for the rest of my life, so if you aren't sure… if you're going through some sort of phase in your life... then please don't pursue me anymore." She paused to swallow and then shook her head slowly. "I can't be with someone who isn't sure of what he wants."

"Paige," Walter angled himself towards her and took her hands in his before running his thumbs over her knuckles. "I _do_ love you. That is a fact, and facts are permanent. I cannot tell you how much I love you because each day, I am finding myself loving you even more, which sounds like a ridiculous statement since love can't possibly be quantified…. Anyway," he shook away his pondering thoughts, "If you're afraid of uncertainty, don't be. And if you are, I'll continue to tell you I love you every single hour of the day until you believe me."

"How do I know you won't one day leave?" Paige's eyes shimmered with threatening tears as she stared at him, but she didn't dare break down now. She rolled her bottom lip between her teeth as she waited for him to answer.

"I won't."

"How do you know you won't?"

"Because I'm scared of you leaving me, too." Walter answered honestly. "Losing you and Ralph… I can't even fathom it…. I don't know if I would survive it."

Paige inhaled deeply as her tears finally began to fall. She exhaled through her mouth and closed her eyes briefly before looking up and offering Walter a gentle smile. She then enveloped him into a warm embrace and pressed a kiss to his neck as his arms looped around her, holding her closer to him.

"I don't know if I would survive it either." She nuzzled her nose against his cheek and fluttered kisses along his jawline before kissing the corner of his mouth. "I love you too much."

 **~ SCORPION ~**

* * *

 **WriterFreak001:**

I had originally planned for the fifth chapter to be the final chapter (with smut), but because of how long the chapter was becoming, I decided to split it into two halves.

I hope you enjoy this chapter all the same, though!

Chapter 6 will be the final chapter to this story.


	6. Chapter 6

**WriterFreak001:**

 **I completely apologize for the delay in this final chapter. I started writing it and kept changing different parts of the chapter. And then I sort of lost motivation for it because of how hard it was to continue writing.**

 **Now, here is the final chapter of "Worth" to you while I hide under a rock and await judgement. _**

 **Also, when I originally wrote this piece, I had planned to write a smut chapter for the last chapter, but after rereading the story, I didn't feel like one was really needed. This chapter is still rated M because I feel like it still has some M rated material.**

 **I apologize to those who were, perhaps, looking forward to a more smutty chapter. I promise to write more smut stories, but this one, for some reason, just wasn't calling out to me as a story with chapter-long smut.**

 **Enjoyyy!**

* * *

 **Chapter Six**

 **~ S** **CORPION ~**

* * *

 _"Intimacy, as I am using it, is sharing my reality with you."_

― Keith Miller

* * *

WOW was all she could think of to describe yesterday evening before dinner… and then afterwards … and also early, early in the morning. The way he kissed her… caressed her… held her and made love to her… She never felt so much love all at once from one person, and if future nights with Walter O'Brien were going to be anything like _last night_ , where the evening was filled with a mixture of sweet, hot, and erotic, then yes please! She wanted Walter intimately every night, if possible. And if she couldn't have him at night for whatever reason, she would gladly steal him at work and have her wicked way with him in the loft during lunchtime because Holy Hell, she hadn't orgasmed like that since… since…, well, since forever! Not even Drew could bring her that high and have her crashing down in ecstasy like Walter did the three times they were intimate.

Like _Oh my gawd!_ Paige could still feel the apex between her legs tingling, and if she was being fully honest with herself, she was aching for him to touch her there again. How had she survived without sex with Walter O'Brien for so long? If she knew how wonderful it was going to be, she would never have even attempted to date Tim. Tim was a nice guy, but… he wasn't Walter. No man would ever be Walter, and she wouldn't want the man sleeping beside her to be like any other man either. Walter O'Brien was perfect in every way, and Paige couldn't wait to take him out to dinner and show him off to all of Los Angeles. _Look out, world! This Sexy Nerd is mine!_

The woman quietly giggled as she flitted her eyes towards Walter's sleeping face and smiled softly. He seemed so calm and peaceful as if he never carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. The last time Paige had seen him like that was when he was in the hospital, recovering from his car accident nearly two years ago. Thank God this time was under completely different circumstances.

The liaison swept her eyes slowly up and down her boyfriend's body and marveled at how handsome and beautifully gorgeous he was. Before, when they had flirted here and there in the past, she had always thought he was a good-looking man, very attractive and sexy as hell, but this morning, there was just something different about him. It might have been because he was sleeping stark nude next to her, but she couldn't quite figure it out. Maybe it was his physique. Sure, she knew he had muscles…, but they looked different to her, and she wandered if it was because she now knew just how protective and strong and gentle they were when they were enclosed around her.

Paige softly caressed the tips of her nails down the center of his chest towards his navel. As her fingers teased the short wispy hairs underneath his bellybutton, she spotted a few freckles on his neck and collarbone she never noticed before. Her eyes trailed to his dark, pert nipples, and she bit her lip as her fingernails encircled one of them. She returned her focus to Walter's face, gauging his alertness and stifling a giggle when he moaned lowly. Her thumb brushed lightly over the tip of his left nipple before she leaned in to kiss his shoulder.

It was still early in the morning, and the sun wasn't going to rise for another few hours. She glided her palm to his heart and rested her hand there as she curled her left leg over his own and softly pressed her cheek against his right breast. "Sweet dreams, my love. Sweet dreams."

…

Walter wriggled his nose and grimaced as the morning sun peeked through the curtains, disrupting his sleep. He shifted a little, turning his back towards the sun and found him hovering over a beautiful woman sleeping in his arms. Walter felt a heaviness lift from his chest which was then filled with complete and absolute adoration. God, he loved this woman.

Carefully, he caressed his fingers against her cheek, and he smiled ear to ear when he verified she was real, and not a figment of his imagination. Her puffy, pink lips were calling out too him, but he refrained, not wanting to kiss her when she was sleeping and unaware. This – everything between them – was new to Walter, and he didn't want to screw anything up.

She moved a little and curled inward towards him, and he froze, afraid he would awake her from peaceful sleep. Finding Paige still latched onto him, still sleeping next to and partially on top of him overwhelmed Walter a little bit. Despite his few sexual experiences, no one had stayed the morning after. This, itself, was new to him, and he was so elated that her mere presence brought tears to his eyes. He quickly wiped them and sniffed quietly and grinned giddily as she mumbled his name in her sleep.

Her hair was defiantly tousled, her skin lightly flushed, her lips and nipples slightly swollen, and her skin peppered with pink blemishes made from when he kissed her. And boy, did he kiss her! He remembered every detail of how she writhed in pleasure when his mouth suckled on her nipples or when he nipped at her lower abdomen, grazing her skin with his teeth as he found his way down to the sensitive, enlarged nub between her thighs. He learned she really liked it when he touched her there with his lips… and his tongue… and fingers… and… and…

Walter could feel his body responding to his arousing memories, and he suppressed a groan, but it didn't help much when he realized Paige's knuckles were in the path of his growing erection. She stirred a little, absentmindedly moving her hand upwards until it was splayed over his hip, and he audibly sighed with relief, not wanting _that_ to be the first thing she sees whenever she wakes up. Everything they did last night was beyond intelligible words, and though he would very much like to take part in those activities sometime soon again, he didn't want to make the impression that all he thought about last night was the sex. Granted, making love with Paige last night did steal most of their evening hours together, he was smart enough to know a relationship did not subsist only on a carnal level.

Walter watched as Paige fluttered her lashes open, and he smiled as he hovered over her to greet her with a deep, passionate kiss, wanting to thank her again for the amazing night. Paige grinned beneath him, kissing him fully before his mouth lifted off of hers with a quiet pop. "Good morning," the genius whispered, his left palm caressing Paige's cheek.

Paige brought her hand to his and clasped her fingers and it before kissing his knuckles. "Mmmm, good morning." Their fingers than laced together, and Paige swept her tongue over her bottom lip as her hazel irises gazed into his eyes flirtatiously. The fact that she wasn't saying anything was killing the genius.

"What," he had to ask, wanting – no – _needing_ to know what was going on in that amazing brain of hers.

"We missed the jazz concert last night," she laughed quietly as she gently pushed Walter over onto his back and climbed on top of him. She was still sweaty from last night and her matted hair fell over her shoulders, almost covering her pert nipples. Walter couldn't help but stare until she directed his attention to her eyes again.

"I know," Walter smirked, his hands finding her ass and giving her cheeks a light squeeze. Paige quietly squealed in surprise, emboldening the genius to speak brazenly. "But let's be honest… if we actually managed to go, I don't think I would have been able to survive the concert without continuing wherever we had left off. Now that I know what it's like… how being with you romantically feels…," she gave her another bold squeeze, "it's going to be hard…a-abstaining during the work day."

It was Paige's turn to smirk. "Oh please, Walter, I could have had us in a closet and banging in less than a minute if we were really that desperate." Her eyes darkened, and she licked her upper swiftly. "When we get back to LA, remind me the next time we're sexually frustrated and pressed for time to show you the wonderful benefits of a quickie."

Walter gulped. "H-how about now?" When she grinned wickedly, he was sure she knew why he was asking. In response, the woman wiggled her hips backwards, sliding her wet warmth against him and eliciting a low groan from him.

Paige leaned down to kiss him as she slowly stroked her folds over his throbbing erection, screwing the gears in his mind brainless as she tantalized him with her fingers gliding down his sides and her tongue slipping deep into his mouth. They hummed and moaned harmoniously before she sank downward, covering his length completely. Swiftly, however, she lifted herself up and skillfully slid off the bed. "If you want more of that," she winked and then swayed her naked ass as she walked towards the hotel closet, "then come inside," she popped her backside playfully, "and get it."

Walter Patrick O'Brien, the paramount of nerds, couldn't fly in there fast enough.

 **~ SCORPION ~**

* * *

 **Finally, this story comes to a close.**

 **Again, I'm so sorry about the delay, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter all the same. :)**

 **Please review!**


End file.
